Best practices for managers on how to encourage safe driving.
Despite the enormous effort and money spent on training and technology, driver safety continues to be a challenge for many companies. According to the National Safety Council, motor vehicle deaths in the U.S. have recently increased. In Ontario, Canada, commercial vehicle collisions are the highest they’ve been in more than 20 years, with speed as a major factor.
More road safety statistics:
- There were over 36,000 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. in 2019 (IIHS).
- 5,005 people were killed and approximately 159,000 people were injured in crashes involving large trucks in 2019 (NHTSA).
- Speeding was a factor in 26% of motor vehicle crashes (IIHS).
- Over 3,100 people died because of distracted driving in 2019 (NHTSA).
The following article will go over the steps we recommend to follow regularly to empower your drivers to improve the overall safety of your fleet.
Table of Contents
Regularly update your safety policy
It’s essential to have a “living” policy for safety that is clearly defined and has buy-in from every level of the company.
The one thing a business can do today to improve driver/fleet safety is to implement a robust policy defining driver eligibility and include a detailed safety program.
The safety policy must have clearly defined performance indicators that can be easily monitored and measured.
It has to be a living document with consistent compliance and regular communication.
For example, clearly communicating and reinforcing rules for distracted driving in company policy is important, especially as smartphone and smartwatch use increases. Exception reporting can be combined with driver training for greater impact.
Track progress to your goals with your fleet software
Telematics holds the power of software for managing driver safety, Implementing driver scorecards, and communicating company policies and expectations to drivers.
No one wants to be at the bottom of the list and labeled as the ‘worst driver’ in the fleet.
Accountability and awareness equal safer drivers.
A driver safety scorecard holds drivers accountable and pinpoints which drivers need additional training and improvements in behavior.
When drivers know they are being monitored and understand company expectations, their behavior changes, making our roadways safer for all.
The best way to start is by defining your goals and then tracking performance.
If you don’t know what drivers are doing, you can’t make the roads safer or improve your bottom line.
Measure what you want to manage.
Proactive Vehicle Maintenance to Prevent Delays
Vehicle breakdowns and maintenance issues can significantly disrupt delivery schedules and lead to delays.
Proactive maintenance practices, such as regular inspections and predictive maintenance scheduling, are essential for minimizing the risk of unexpected downtime.
By keeping vehicles in optimal condition, businesses can ensure reliability and consistency in their delivery operations, ultimately enhancing on-time performance.
Start with seat belts
A simple seat belt report that may show those who aren’t wearing their seat belt could save their lives by helping them change their habits.
I also feel that driver feedback, whether it’s through the telematics device or verbal, is a vital tool to help drivers get in the habit of wearing their seat belts.
The seat belt report displays the five drivers or vehicles who had the highest number of incidents of driving without a seat belt fastened for a specific period.
Managers can run this report daily, weekly, or monthly.
The seat belt report is also a great example of how telematics can be used to report and measure fleet objectives, “The Top 5 Seat Belt Violations report gives a rapid snapshot of who is violating the simplest of rules — not to mention breaking the law.
If they consistently disregard a simple task without reason, what else of importance are they ignoring or short-cutting?”
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Train and retrain
Training — and retraining — on the basics of safe driving is also essential. Teach the drivers the realities of distracted driving: how many seconds eyes are off the road and how far the vehicle travels.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Distracted Driving page states that looking away from the road for five seconds while driving at 55 mph is “like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.”
Continuously reviewing the fleet safety rules can help reinforce those best practices on the road.
If a crash does occur, what learnings can be built into the safety training program to help improve it and prevent future collisions?
Gamify your safety program
Motivate and reward drivers with a gamification app that ties into your telematics system.
By giving drivers access to their dashboard, they will be empowered by continuous feedback on how they’re doing.
Achievements or badges can motivate progress toward goals.
Find a high-level sponsor
High-level sponsors are vital to making programs work.
Ensuring that top management backs fleet managers in promoting safety and implementing the necessary systems not only builds strong safety policies but also enforces them.
Drivers need to know that the entire management team is united on company safety policies and systems.
Driver and fleet safety will only be successful if everyone from top management to the newest driver participates and complies with the company policy and process.
Share these driver safety tips with your team
The cost of vehicle collisions to employers is extremely high. Crashes cost the economy $242 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (IIHS).
Fleet managers have an important stake in improving safety and helping change those statistics.